Burchard Müller von der Lühnen

Life

The Swedish Biographical Dictionary gives Burchard Müller's dates as 1604–1670 and notes that he himself signed his name „Miller”¹. The dictionary's account of the family's early history rests mainly on his funeral oration. According to the oration, Müller was the son of Bernhard and is said to have been born in what later became the Swedish bishopric of Verden near Bremen, and his grandfather is said to have been a burgher of Lüneburg¹.

In 1623 he entered Swedish service in Livonia, and in that same year he already appears in the muster rolls as a lieutenant¹. According to the funeral oration, partly confirmed by letters in the Swedish National Archives, he took part in almost all the major battles from Wallhof in 1626 to the end of the Thirty Years' War¹. He was wounded at Breitenfeld (1631), Lützen (1632) and Jankau (1645)¹. In 1642 he became a colonel of horse, in 1648 major general of cavalry, and in 1649–1650 he was commandant of Greifswald¹. In 1650 he was ennobled with the name Müller von der Lühnen, but he was not introduced into the Swedish House of Nobility¹.

Soon after the Battle of Gniezno, in the spring of 1656, he had to leave Poland on account of age and illness and moved to Pomerania, where, in the absence of the governor-general Carl Gustaf Wrangel, he temporarily commanded the troops¹. In 1659 he became a general¹. In the same year he defended Damm for five weeks, withdrew to Anklam after its capitulation, and then held Greifswald against two assaults by Brandenburg troops¹. In 1662 he retired¹.

During the Deluge

In Charles X Gustav's war with Poland, Müller fought in 1655 at the Battle of Wojnicz on the Dunajec, and in the same year he became lieutenant general¹. Charles Gustav sent him to Greater Poland. From there Müller sent detachments towards Piotrków and Łęczyca, while he himself, with Wrzeszczewicz, Colonel Sadowski, the Prince of Hesse and the quarter army (the standing army of the Crown), marched on Częstochowa, because the king had ordered that the Polish army's pay be met from the monastery's treasures².

Kubala writes: „Głównodowodzący generał porucznik Burchard Müller von der Lühnen wysłał do klasztoru list z zawiadomieniem, że przybywa na rozkaz swego króla opatrzyć załogą Częstochowę” ("The commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Burchard Müller von der Lühnen, sent a letter to the monastery announcing that he was coming, on his king's orders, to garrison Częstochowa")³. According to Kordecki, his army halted at the foot of the hill on 18 November at about two in the afternoon⁴, and the letter was dated „8 (18) Listopada 1655” ("8 (18) November 1655") and signed „Burchard Miller, Generał-porucznik” ("Burchard Miller, Lieutenant General")⁵.

In a letter of 25 December Müller demanded surrender, or else an oath and a ransom of 60,000 thalers⁷. At dawn on 27 December the Swedes withdrew, and Müller moved off to Piotrków⁸. The Swedish dictionary calls this siege the first serious setback for the Swedish army in the war¹. The course of the siege is described on the page Siege of Jasna Góra.

In January 1656 Müller set out from Kalisz with 3,000 men for Częstochowa once again⁹. He arrived there on 29 January, but withdrew at once on the news that the Polish army under Czarniecki's command had crossed the Vistula⁹. In the spring of 1656, at the Battle of Gniezno, he commanded the left wing of the cavalry, directly under Carl Gustaf Wrangel¹.

In the novel

Sienkiewicz, like the Polish translation of Kordecki, calls him Miller:

Lecz właśnie dla tego samego powodu Burchard Miller pragnął skończyć prędko. Wiódł on ze sobą dziewięć tysięcy wojska, przeważnie piechoty, i dziewiętnaście dział.

Henryk Sienkiewicz, The Deluge (Potop)¹⁰

(Our translation: "But for that very same reason Burchard Miller wished to finish quickly. He had with him nine thousand troops, mostly infantry, and nineteen guns.")

In the film

In Jerzy Hoffman's film the role of Miller was played by Jerzy Przybylski¹¹.

Notes

1. H G-m, Müller von der Lühnen, släkt, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, bd 26, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (Riksarkivet), 1987–1989, s. 125
2. Ludwik Kubala, Wojna szwecka w roku 1655 i 1656, Szkice historyczne, serya IV (Biblioteka Historyczna Altenberga), Lwów; Warszawa: H. Altenberg, G. Seyfarth, E. Wende i Sp.; E. Wende i Sp., 1913, s. 151
3. Ludwik Kubala, Wojna szwecka w roku 1655 i 1656, Szkice historyczne, serya IV (Biblioteka Historyczna Altenberga), Lwów; Warszawa: H. Altenberg, G. Seyfarth, E. Wende i Sp.; E. Wende i Sp., 1913, s. 159
4. Augustyn Kordecki; przeł. Józef Łepkowski, (Nowa Gigantomachia): pamiętnik oblężenia Częstochowy roku 1655, Warszawa: S. Orgelbrand, 1858, s. 28
5. Augustyn Kordecki; przeł. Józef Łepkowski, (Nowa Gigantomachia): pamiętnik oblężenia Częstochowy roku 1655, Warszawa: S. Orgelbrand, 1858, s. 29
6. Adam Kersten, Kordecki Klemens, imię zakonne Augustyn (1603–1673), Polski słownik biograficzny, t. 14, Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1968–1969, s. 53–55
7. Augustyn Kordecki; przeł. Józef Łepkowski, (Nowa Gigantomachia): pamiętnik oblężenia Częstochowy roku 1655, Warszawa: S. Orgelbrand, 1858, s. 98–99
8. Ludwik Kubala, Wojna szwecka w roku 1655 i 1656, Szkice historyczne, serya IV (Biblioteka Historyczna Altenberga), Lwów; Warszawa: H. Altenberg, G. Seyfarth, E. Wende i Sp.; E. Wende i Sp., 1913, s. 179
9. Ludwik Kubala, Wojna szwecka w roku 1655 i 1656, Szkice historyczne, serya IV (Biblioteka Historyczna Altenberga), Lwów; Warszawa: H. Altenberg, G. Seyfarth, E. Wende i Sp.; E. Wende i Sp., 1913, s. 269
10. Henryk Sienkiewicz, Potop, Fundacja Nowoczesna Polska (Wolne Lektury), 2009–2010, t. II, rozdz. XIV
11. Potop, Łódź: Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. Leona Schillera w Łodzi (filmpolski.pl)